Hunt for the 21st
Of the many Hunts that the Najenmik would persue, the Hunt they initiated on the 21st was the longest and bloodiest of them all, largely considered by the Najenmik as their "Trial by Fire." With their allies and territorial gains from the S.E.W. fully secured, the Empire decided to turn their attention to the traitors that had left their ranks, sending their best unit on the largest manhunt in history. The raid on Fort Iho: 2400 Roughly twenty Najenmik soldiers encounter the PMCs Fortress on Trylon IV. Using the new Spoor Railgun weaponry, they quickly destroy the Legion Exo patrols while losing three members to legion snipers, before cloaking and moving further onto the base. Once in range, they utilize new Emp devices each fitted with an IFF, as well as their new Spider Tanks' artillery mode to destroy legion automated defenses then scale the walls and enter the fort. Once inside, the superior training and equipment of the Najenmik quickly equalizes the battle, negating the superior numbers of the legion. Once Vikar fights and kills the legion Heavy, and the Najenmik Spider Tank literally climbs atop and tears apart the older model legion tank, the surviving legion soldiers retreat from the base, fleeing into the desert. Out of the 70+ men stationed at the fort, only roughly twenty escape. Among the dead is Commander Persk, One of Tikverins' top officers. For the Najenmik, the battle takes out nearly half their assault force, with only 12 of the original 20 men surviving. One of the survivors manage to find a PLH Desert Ranger. The Desert Ranger contacts PLH HQ of Trylon IV. Kizer Takent orders all PLH forces on high alert. Infiltration of the Capital: 2401 After the PLH are given awareness of the Najenmik presence on Trylon IV, the Najenmik infiltrate the planetary capital, Kriksten, and take control of the PLH database within the city center, acquiring the names and locations of every PLH member in the system. Extermination of Trylon IV: 2402 Given the lawless nature of Trylon IV, and given it's state as an enemy stronghold, the Najenmik initiate a massive Irradiated Petrusite bombardment of the planet, killing nearly the entire population, including most of the PLHs' families. In retaliation, vengeful PLH soldiers destroy nearly all the Najenmik facilities on Sneg a week later. Purge of the Jerhico System: 2402 Using the information acquired from Trylon IVs' database, the Najenmik send their top assassins and wetwork specialists across the system, wiping out every PLH base within the system, killing most PLH members over the course of one week, retaking the system for the Empire. All PLH mercs that survived retreated to the Eden system. Battle of Cobar Station: 2405 After 3 years of rebuilding the legion's strength, the PLH now attacks the Najenmik. The legion chooses to attack Cobar Station, one of the Helghast space stations on the edge of the Proxima Centauri system to protect it's borders. But most importantly to the PLH, 300 Najenmik soldiers are stationed there. PLH sends 7 Battle Cruisers and their best fleet , Optimus Squadron. The station was destroyed along with all Najenmiks soldiers dead. PLH captured 1 Helghast officer and demanded to tell them where are the Najenmik's closes location. The Helghast officer gave up the location, Vikren, an asteroid base. Battle of Vikren Base: 2405 PLH's fleet of Battle Crusers and Optimus Squadron pushed onwards on the attack. Vikren Base detected a PLH fleet was coming and sended fighters and crusers to stop them. PLH destroyed Nikren's fleet but lost 1 Battle Cruser. All 250 Najenmik soldiers got on their fighters before it was to late. The Najenmik manage to kill almost half of Optimus Squadron's pilots and leader, Norfen Kile. However that didn't stop the rest of the fleet from destroying them. Optimus Squadron went back to the Eden system to recover and the rest of the fleet continued the attack. Najenmik Reprisal: 2406 Vikar, having long grown tired of the PLH and hungry for the blood of it's founders, assembles his personal squad, and attacks a small Refueling station on an isolated PLH asteroid base, and hijacks a transport ship after killing off it's inhabitants. Later that day, they dock with the flagship of the PLH fleet, in the heart of the asteroid field and hidden from the Empire. once onboard, Echo squad detonates a massive EMP within the ship, shutting it down before they quickly move through the vessel in total darkness, killing every PLH member above the rank of Officer until they reach the bridge. Once there, they kill all PLH members they see, and take Captain Gretows alive, scrambing the ships IFF and then setting the ship to auto-fire on the nearby PLH forces and escaping in the ensuing chaos. Purge of the Centauri Systems: 2407 After several months of extensive interrogation, Gretows reluctantly reveals the plans and locations of the PLH forces within the Empires' home systems. Realising that the PLH as most of it's forces within the system, the Najenmik reveal the location and plans to the Helghast military, who begin a brutal and relentless suppression campaign throughout the system. after nearly a year of fighting, the Empire pushes the PLH entirely out of the star systems, at the cost of nearly 130,000 soldiers and 87 ships. Duel on Eden: 2408 During the PLH retreat from the Centauri systems, 8 of their ships are boarded by Najenmik forces, including Vikar and his squad, who hide in the cargo compartments until the ships return to Eden. Once the journey is over, under the cover of night, they silently slip off the vessels and move into the jungles and forests of Taru, watching and waiting for the opportune moment to silence their enemy once and for all. Silently stalking the forest for several months, the Najenmik quietly and brutally kill every PLH scout they encounter, making it seem as if there are far greater numbers on the planet than there really is. As the PLH sends larger and larger units into the forests to eliminate their enemy, fewer and fewer return. Until finally, on April 17th, Echo Squad, lead by Vikar, infiltrate the PLH main base and fight there way into the Prime Masters' quarters, killing dozens of PLH forces unfortunate enough to be in there path. Within the PM's headquarters, Vikar and his squad encounter Tikverion along with his team. While a brief attempt at negotiation is made by both sides, neither can agree to a mutually acceptable outcome and a firefight quickly breaks out. after a fierce, hour long battle, Vikar manages to limp his way out of the room alive, with an unconscious Tikverion over his shoulder, albeit with severe injuries and losing his entire squad. But, as he takes Tikverion to his ship for the Empire, C.C.C. special forces launch a counter-attack onto the PLH base, having chosen to ally with them to fight the Empire. The surprise attack takes the Najenmik forces off guard, having no former knowledge of PLH's alliance with the Confederation. In a long and brutal fight, both sides take heavy casualties, with the PLH-C.C.C. forces eventually emerging victorious due to superior numbers and equipment. Despite this, Vikar has killed the PLH leaders and thrown their HQ in total disarray, as well as discovering the C.C.C. backing that the traitor legion has. In the end, he successfully retreats to his ship and escapes the system with Tikverions' still unconscious body onboard. Out of the nearly 3,000 that went in, he is the only Najenmik soldier to leave Eden alive, losing nearly a tenth of his entire military branch. Death of Tikverion Marvidakis: January 3rd, 2409 For roughly one month, Vikar attempts to convince Tikverion into ordering the PLH to surrender, in exchange for them being reconstituted as the 21st into the Imperial military. Despite this, Marvidakis refuses, believing that it would dishonor and betray the ideals of his forces. Therefore, Vikar Detrick orders his execution; by challenging him to an unarmed battle to the death, which Tikverion accepts. After nearly a day-long duel, Vikar eventually manages to succeed in breaking Tikverions neck, killing him, but not before his left arm is all but shattered by Tikverion in the fight, forcing him to amputate it and receive a cybernetically augmented arm in its' place. Shortly after hearing the news of Marvidakis death, PLH sub-commander, Kizer Takent contacted the Najenmik and demanded that they give back Marvidakis body. Initially the Najenmik refused this request, planning on destroying the corpse, until Vikar intervened and allowed the body to be released for the PLH. The Hunt's end: 2453 While the fight between the PLH and Najenmik never technically ended, the death of Tikverion all but crushed the Prime Legions' morale. With losses mounting and the enemy seemingly unstoppable, the elite PMC was forced to, at least temporarily, disband. Roughly five years after the survivors had left their brotherhood, most regrouped and rebuilt their Legion, unable to return to civilian life after a lifetime of war. However, fearful of further Imperial reprisals, they requested official reconstitution into the Helghast military to avoid further conflict. To their surprise, the Empire not only accepted, but was willing to allow the Legion to continue accepting contracts as a mercenary force, so long as they had no negative effects on the Empire.